our life take two
by Hspirito
Summary: Andrew is back from London and his wife is completely different than she was two weeks before is it too good to be true or is it a second chance to get things right?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction ever. I am in love with the Ringer, it is the most fantastic show and I am hoping it gets renewed for a second season, anyway be gentle and please review! This story will be half accurate with how it is portrayed on the show and half my own imagination with a bit added in spaces where I thought more explanation was necessary

Bridget came to New York believing that she could save her life. Knowing that if she stayed in Wyoming she would most likely end up dead, and if she wasn't killed she would spend her life worrying that someone was after her. Her motives were simple, there was no agenda and yet not even 24 hours later Siobhan was dead and before she knew what she had done she put on Siobhan's clothes, tied her hair back and placed the ring on her finger. Bridget was gone and Siobhan was alive and well on her way back to Manhattan, at least that was what everyone was lead to believe.

Walking into the apartment the first thing she saw was the outrageously oversized black and white photo of "her" in the entry way.

"How like Shiv to have a photo that ridiculous of herself out on display"

Walking into the house she realized very quickly that this space was not a home. It looked like something out if a high end magazine, everything was in its place, the furniture was sterile and felt like it belonged in a furniture store, there were minimum photographs of Siobhan and Andrew and the ones that were present were practically hidden away.

_She knew when she got off the bus and saw her sister that something was off. Granted they hadn't seen each other in almost 6 years, but they were twins and no matter how much time had gone by Bridget knew that behind the expensive clothes, perfectly placed hair and oversized sunglasses that Siobhan was not happy. Arriving at "the weekend place" she was floored, the house was stunning and it was only for the weekends, and not even every weekend at that. Seeing the magnificence of the house and the knowledge that Siobhan didn't want for anything she foolishly believed that translated into genuine happiness. Some people are able to buy happiness to an extent, but genuine joy was a feeling, an emotion that couldn't be purchased. The joy on Shivs face in the photograph Bridget carried of her sister and her nephew, that was joy, and that was before the money, and the things, that was when Siobhan worked a blue color job, drove a used car and lived in a basic apartment that wasn't far from the playground._

Coming out of her thoughts she continued to tour the house. Every room was as perfect as the room before, only confirming her belief that her sister was definitely quite the actress and coming to the same conclusion of Andrew as well.

Walking into the closet she wasn't all that surprised, it looked like Martha Stuart's closet. There were no colors, except for one red dress in particular, everything was beige or white or tan and organized in sections, than there were the shoes all high heels, which wasn't a problem considering Bridget's profession however she did love plain old sneakers or at least flats but she realized that was not an option at least not at the moment.

Just than the door opened and she heard movement and a voice ringing out "I'm home" in a British accent. She had never met Andrew but she had seen a photo and from the picture she knew he was handsome but seeing him in person she realized he was even better. Physically fit, tall, dark hair and eyes, smelled fantastic especially considering he had just gotten off a transatlantic flight. Not knowing yet the complexities of her sister's marriage she walked toward him and gave him a quick kiss. Immediately she knew she had made a miscalculation.

"Well aren't you friendly?" he said in a tone that held what felt like a hint of disgust

According to Siobhan he had been out of the country for two weeks and they were young, attractive people with a relatively young marriage. Now granted she had never been married or even close to it, but aren't married people supposed to show affection for one another?

"It's been a long time… How was London?"

He looked at her almost stunned, she never asked him how his trips were and suggesting that she missed him was not something that she did. He didn't know what was going on but whatever it was it was refreshing to come home and not feel as though he was preparing for battle the moment he walked in the door. For as long as he could remember they had a routine. Each came and went as desired and no expectations were placed, in private they merely co-existed in public they turned on the charm, they performed, charming people always asking the right questions and saying the right thing, like a well rehearsed play. And now out of nowhere he was standing in the closet with his wife and she didn't seem like there was somewhere, anywhere, else she would rather be than with him.

"London was good. We landed that investor."

"That's great. Congratulations."

Now he knew something was up. Not only was she actually trying but it seemed as though she cared and if he hadn't known better he would have believed her."

"Who are you?"

She was speechless. Did he know? Within 5 minutes did he know? But then she relaxed, if only a little, he didn't know Siobhan had a twin, he had no idea that Bridget even existed. Yet the way he was looking at her you would have thought that he knew everything and then some. Watching him watching her she couldn't quite understand the problem. Yet she couldn't help but think about what Shiv said in the Hamptons _"Nothing's perfect"_ it wasn't so much what she said but the way she said it. What exactly was the state of Siobhan's marriage? What had she done to make Andrew so suspicious of her? Wanting to play her cards as close to the vest as possible but still wanting to get some information on exactly what it was she had signed up for she responded with

"What do you mean?"

"You actually seem like you care, which we both know isn't true."

"Why would you say that?"

"I'm just playing by your rules Shiv, this is your game not mine."

"You have been out of the country for a number of days all I ask was how was London and you act like I just told you I discovered gold under the sofa." She knew she was losing her cool but damn it this was frustrating as hell. Fully realizing that in 6 years anything could have happened and having never met Andrew she had no idea what his game was, but her sister had killed herself and she was trying to keep herself from getting killed and all she wanted was to feel comfortable in her home, scratch that "temporary residency" and yet she felt like she was playing some sort of elaborate game and had no idea what the rules were and yet it was her move and she had to act fast.

Seeing the look on her face he knew that she wasn't playing him. She was making an attempt to reach out to him and that was all he wanted but he just couldn't trust it he couldn't trust her, he wanted to but he couldn't. Yet this was all he wanted, peace, he wanted to be able to come home at the end of the day and be able to relax, something he hadn't had in what felt like forever because of Siobhan but now here she was extending a branch and he was questioning it. Did it really matter why? No he needed to stop making something out of nothing and just enjoy it… whatever the reason may be.

"Your right. It's just we don't do this sort of thing… talk without it turning into some kind of argument or ultimatum."

"I know. I'm tired and all of this tension is exhausting and I just don't want to do this, what we've been doing, anymore. I'm trying and if you want to meet me half way that would be nice but if you don't…"

Reaching for her wrist he moved a little closer to her.

"It was your idea to put on this masquerade; I just don't know what you want from me. But I can see that you're trying and that's all I need to know… I'll do my best not to question it and to meet you half way."

And with that Andrew headed for the bathroom to prepare for bed and Bridget was left standing in the closet. She was curious and confused in a way she hadn't expected. She never thought her sister had anything less than a good marriage but after the exchange she had just had with Andrew, seeing how suspicious he was and how quick he was to assume the worst, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly had happened with her sister and her husband. How, no why, would two people choose to be married when it felt like they didn't even like each other?


	2. Chapter 2

It was the next morning and Bridget woke up in her sisters bed and damn it if it wasn't the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in, then again it should be considering how much it likely cost. Rolling over she reached for the ringing telephone it was some woman who was obviously a friend of Siobhan's claiming she was late in meeting her, looking in her sisters appointment book she saw something about a meeting with Gemma at the loft, whatever that meant. Hanging up the phone trying to pull herself together. It hadn't been terribly hard to convince Andrew that she was Siobhan but this Gemma was obviously a friend and that meant this was going to be tricky.

"Well look who decided to wake up."

She heard the British voice say as it was walking up behind her. He was obviously getting ready for work and after the talk they had the previous night he seemed a bit more cooperative to at least be civil.

"Yeah I had some trouble falling asleep. That was Gemma I was supposed to meet her at the loft and I totally forgot."

"That's not like you, didn't you write it down in your book?"

"Yeah I guess I just spaced out."

Finishing tying his tie he grabbed his jacket and said he was leaving and would be back in time for dinner.

"Andrew…" waiting until he turned to meet her eyes, "have a good day."

He couldn't help but smile at that. To most people it would have seemed like such a basic thing to say but for him it was huge and it made him happy, happier than it should have considering the simplicity of the comment. Walking over to her, lightly wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her forehead he told her to do the same and than walked to the elevator and left.

It was a few hours later and Bridget was back at the apartment after having met with Gemma. She now knew that Gemma was her sisters best friend and she was having doubts about weather her husband was having an affair or not. Not knowing that "she" was the other woman she tried to comfort her sisters friend doing her best to convince her that there was probably a simple explanation.

Entering the apartment she heard music, what could only be thought of as teenage music, coming from one of the bedrooms. Walking toward the bedroom she was greeted with the image of Andrew's daughter having sex with some boy. Seeing the boys face covered with a scarf that looked like something belonging to Siobhan she rushed toward the closet.

She put her gun in the drawer full of scarves the night before as Andrew was entering the closet, she panicked that Juliet may have come across the gun when she got the scarf. Opening the drawer she saw the gun still in the drawer, realizing how close she had come to having to explain the gun she knew she needed to move the weapon. Pulling out a step stole she put the gun on the highest shelf in the closet behind hat boxes that were currently on the shelf. She was starting to realize how vulnerable her secret was and that she needed to hide Bridgett better if she wanted to keep this charade going.

Just than the phone rang.

The man on the other end of the line said he was a doctor, Siobhan's doctor, and that she had missed an appointment today. After a few moments and a bit of confusion on Bridgett's part when the doctor mentioned results to her blood work. She was pregnant, Siobhan was pregnant.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Mrs. Martin."

"I'm pregnant?"

"Yes 4 weeks, congratulations."

After setting up an appointment for the following week she hung up the phone. Unbeknownst to her Andrew was standing behind her.

"You're pregnant?"

Turning around and seeing his shocked face she was practically speechless.

_Had Siobhan and Andrew talked about children? They had been married almost 6 years and there were no indications of such a plan, especially considering the fragility of the union as of late. Did Andrew know about Siobhan's son Sean? Probably not seeing as he didn't know his wife had a twin._

Wordlessly she nodded her head to his question.

Suddenly his face took on an expression that could only be described as happy. Walking toward her and resting his hand on her stomach he said.

"We're having a baby… is that why you've been so agreeable and making such an effort?"

Realizing that would be a great explanation she decided to work with that.

"The last week or so I haven't been feeling 100% I honestly had no idea but did think it could be a possibility. I grew up with parents who were constantly fighting and when they weren't fighting they were trying to get me to choose between the two of them. I wont do that. I want a different life for my child. Whatever happened with us, whatever it is that caused us to get to this point is not important. What is important is that we try to be our absolute best and give it our best effort to make sure our child is happy."

_He had never heard her talk about her childhood. Whenever discussions came up about the past she always made it about him or deflected entirely. Standing there he realized there were so many things he did not know. This woman truly was a mystery to him and now she was pregnant. She was right, it didn't matter what had happened that brought them to this point what mattered was what they did from here on out. He did love her and he wanted to make this work and with a baby on the way he now had all the more incentive._

"You're right. I'm going to make a proposition. Starting now the past is the past, we are going to give it our best effort from here on out for the baby and for us. In the beginning we had something pretty spectacular and I think with some time we can get back there."

She knew at that moment that her plan of temporarily being her sister was no longer an option. She was Siobhan, she was married, had a step daughter and was pregnant. This was her life and she was going to succeed where her sister had failed. True she didn't know Andrew and she still didn't know what had caused them to be more roommates than spouses but that was the past, she was going to give this her all. She was going to make up for what had happened with Sean, for disappointing her sister to such an extent that she didn't even acknowledge her existence, for being on the boat when her sister took her life. She was going to do this for all of those reasons but also for herself. For years she had been anything but proud of herself and the choices she made, she now had a chance to be a part of something better and perhaps even repair some of the relationships that were so frayed upon her arrival.

"I want that to. I know we are not the same people we were, I know mistakes have been made but I want to try."


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long delay – we are going to jump forward a bit.

The lie had been going on for a few weeks now, almost a month. Shockingly no one seemed to notice and if they did they weren't saying. Henry was a bit stunned when Siobhan ended things, making it a point on more than one occasion to seek her out to find out why. Gemma was still convinced that Henry was having an affair but wasn't able to come up with proof, and now that the "affair" in question was ended maybe Gemma would be able to let it drop. Juliet was coming around, slowly, she had a lot of resentment for her stepmother and even though Bridget didn't know the exact details it didn't take a genius to figure out that the relationship was not a good one. Yet as the weeks went by and Bridget tried to repair the damage in her sister's life without being overly forceful or obvious Juliet was beginning to soften. Then there was Andrew. Ever since the discussion they had he seemed to be a little lighter, not so dark and intimidating. It turned out he had a rather naughty sense of humor that Bridget could appreciate. She had made it a habit of having coffee made in the morning with his mug sitting next to the pot when he woke up; when he left she would give him a peck on the edge of his mouth and a reassuring smile. She made him dinner. Unlike her sister she had always liked looking through cookbooks and preparing things with a bit of variety to them. Sitting at the dinner table asking him how his day was and listening as he responded. He seemed to appreciate her effort. All of which only reaffirmed in Bridget's mind that Siobhan had not changed in the years they hadn't seen one another. She never had been all that good at taking an interest in other people's lives, when it came to drama she was always up for details, like the national Enquire she loved the untold story, but the basic facts of someone's day never failed to bore her. Yet Bridget appreciated hearing people recount the activities of their days, the duller the better, partly because of how terrifyingly eventful her life had been lately.

Sitting at the table Andrew would reveal moments of his day and every time he looked up at her she didn't only appear to be listening but she actually seemed interested. During his trip to London he had spent much of that time contemplating his marriage. Wondering if he could live with the way things were with them, this elaborate act they put on in public and than being practically strangers in private. In business he was a very cool, disconnected man but in his personal life he was of the old stock. He wanted a wife who appreciated his company, who was happy to see him, who wanted him in bed with her at the end of the night and there next to her when she woke the next morning. He wanted passion. In the beginning of their relationship they had wonderful chemistry, perhaps because of the excitement that went with sneaking around. But very quickly things became routine, domesticated, and the more "married" they were the more Siobhan seemed to detest it and him. Coming back from London had been like night and day. Walking into the apartment to see her in their closet. Asking about his trip, greeting him affectionately he was stunned and initially thought it was a game, thought he was being tested. Than they had it out and both agreed they wanted to try. Now week's later things were good, better than they had been in as long as he could remember. He looked forward to coming home at the end of the day and seeing her. Sitting at the dinner table just talking, not yelling or freezing one another out, just talking about life. Going to bed with her. Nothing had happened, sex wise, in a while but that didn't bother him. Lately when he crawled into bed she would be laying there reading cooking books, ironically enough, once he was settled she would put the book down on the bedside table, turn off the light, rest her head on his shoulder and they would just lay there in the quite until sleep arrived. It was comforting and nice to feel appreciated and needed again in that way. Though he had to admit that as the weeks were going by and things were increasingly improving he wanted to be with her, physically, more and more.

Dinner ended and sometime later he came out of the closet having prepared for bed and again there she was reading one of her cook books

"We have been married for 6 years and in all that time I have never seen you read books on cooking"

She worried sometimes when he called her out on changes even if they were as small as what she preferred to read. The longer she spent as Siobhan the more she felt invested and she did not want it to fall apart, more importantly she was beginning to develop real feelings for Andrew and she wanted to stay here with him.

"Must be the pregnancy. Ever since that call I have this renewed appreciation for food"

He gave her a warm smile at that. Crawling into bed, he took the book from her and put it on the table, pulling her closer to him he started running his fingers through her hair finally summing up the courage.

"You know pregnancy looks good on you. You've seemed really happy these last few weeks, more calm than I can remember"

She almost laughed at that, inside she was a constant bottle of nerves most of the time. However when it was just the two of them she did feel relaxed even though arguably he was still the one most likely to discover the truth. The more she stopped trying to be Siobhan and just let things flow the more she realized that Andrew was a wonderful man. He was rough around the edges but he was good to her, he didn't even have to try all that much. Once he accepted she wasn't playing games he seemed to relax a little as well and the more he relaxed the more she was able to relax as well

"What do you think about a trip?"

"To where?"

"Somewhere warm, some place where I won't be distracted by work, no phones, no internet, no interruptions, someplace where we can just be together."

This caused her to smile. Pose shining herself so she could look at him, she ran her hand along the side of his face and gave him a soft kiss. A bit surprised when he initiated more. Quickly the kiss turned passionate and things were happening that although pleasant were not what she had expected. The more things progressed the more she gave in. in the last month or so Andrew stopped being Siobhan's husband and he became someone she cared for greatly, in the last few days she even began questioning whether she may be falling in love with him. The more he appeared to be caught up in the moment the more she realized that she already had fallen in love with him. This was her life now, here with him, Siobhan was dead, Andrew trusted her and appreciated the effort she was making and by getting him to trust her she had involuntarily come to care for and now to love him and with those realities present in her mind she let herself go and be with him. He wanted her, she wanted him, this was there life and she was going to do whatever she had to do. She didn't know what drove Siobhan and Andrew apart, granted she was learning more and more all the time, little things, but this was Bridget and Andrew, even if he wasn't aware, and she did appreciate him and was happy that she was making him happy and in that moment that was all she needed to know.


End file.
